News & Headlines

SATURDAY is your water cooler talking point: Odyssey’s new direction

Sep 15 2025 Updated 4 hours ago

Ian Horswill

1 min read

When Odyssey Lifestyle Care Communities set out to deliver its $150 million Chevron Island project, it turned to tier-one contractors. But for its future pipeline, the operator is charting a new course.

CEO Aaron Lavell reveals the shift exclusively to SATURDAY digital magazine.

Also in this week’s edition: Richard de Haast, CEO of Scalabrini Communities; Byron Cannon (GAICD), CEO of LDK Seniors' Living; Grant Corderoy, Senior Partner at StewartBrown; and Tom Symondson, CEO of Ageing Australia.

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Retirement villages have Canberra’s attention – now the sector must prove its value

Three years after Daniel Gannon took the reins of the Retirement Living Council (RLC), the sector has achieved something his predecessor Ben Myers was never able to: national recognition in Canberra. This is just the fist step. Retirement villages now need to capitalise on this moment. Here’s how.

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Ian Horswill

02 Sep 2025

Legal Issues

NSW retirement village operators now required to file annual capital maintenance report

The NSW Government has finalised and published the Retirement Villages Regulation 2025 (NSW), bringing in a number of key changes for operators.

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Ian Horswill

02 Sep 2025

Opinion

RIP: We are seeing the death of the family-run aged care operator

It feels like I am writing an obituary to family-run aged care facilities. Once the backbone of the sector, multi-generation operators are now selling out at a pace not seen before. The sell-off is accelerating, with three landmark deals in just two...

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Lauren Broomham

11 Sep 2025

Mergers & Acquisitions

Scape’s Craig Carracher: Aveo deal cost closer to $4.5B, not $3.85B

Brookfield Asset Management hailed the sale of Aveo as the largest direct real estate transaction in Australian history, quoting a price tag of $3.85 billion.

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Ian Horswill

08 Sep 2025

Stockland’s Halcyon brand emerges as runaway land lease leader

When Tarun Gupta took over as Stockland CEO in July 2021, he staked his name on land lease communities with a bold $620 million acquisition of Queensland’s Halcyon Group. The move trumped rival offers from Ingenia Communities and Serenitas – and cemented Stockland’s ambition to dominate “the fastest growing lifestyle segment – the Over 50s market.”

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Bocina Group unveils first land lease community in QLD’s Lockyer Valley

Gold Coast-based Bocina Group has lodged plans for its first land lease community, a 267-home project in Gatton in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley.

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Ian Horswill

5 hours ago

Development

Uniting gets go-ahead for 152-unit Shellharbour development

Uniting NSW.ACT has secured approval for the first stage of its new Shellharbour development, which will deliver 152 independent living apartments and assisted living services in the Illawarra, about 100km south of Sydney’s CBD.

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Ian Horswill

6 hours ago

Development

Summerset’s second continuum of care village takes shape in Melbourne’s Chirnside Park

New Zealand-based operator Summerset Group has provided an update on its $146 million retirement community under construction in Chirnside Park, 38km east of Melbourne’s CBD.

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Ian Horswill

6 hours ago